Turnpike is a road upon which a traveler must pay a fee, or toll, to use the highway. Such roads were named turnpikes because in the early days travelers stopped at gates made of logs or spears called pikes. The gates were turned open after the payment of a toll. The first record of tolls being collected was on a Persian military road between Babylon and Syria about 2000 B.C.
Private investors brought the idea of building turnpikes to the United States from England. They formed turnpike companies to build the roads, and operated them for profit. The first U.S. turnpike was built in Virginia in 1785. The nation’s first major hard-surfaced road, the Lancaster Turnpike, was built from 1792 to 1794 between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pa. It was made of stone covered with gravel. From 1792 to 1810, investors organized 175 companies in New England to build and improve nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) of road.
Turnpike companies brought about many improvements in early American roads. They built bridges and surfaced the roads. Stage lines came into wide use as a result of the building of turnpikes. But in spite of the good they did, turnpikes proved to be poor business investments. By 1825, U.S. turnpike stocks had become nearly worthless, because the toll fees seldom paid for more than the cost of the road’s upkeep.
State and local governments in the United States took over the task of building and maintaining roads. Interest in toll roads revived during the 1930’s and several major ones were built after World War II. Toll roads remain important today in many areas.
